How Was Your Week/Month?
A selection of bits from the charcuterie board of my fascinating and fast paced life
I am hereby starting a new weekly feature here on my newsletter called How Was Your Week/Month? where, get this, I round up a few bits from the week/month that I’ve enjoyed! It is the ‘florals for spring’ of newsletters but I need something to ground me here on Planet Substack so this is what we’re doing for now okay? Let’s see how we get on. And a reminder that paid subscribers get an audio version at the end - cue cartwheels and fireworks.
MAY BOOKS RECOMMENDATIONS
I would rather hand over every password I own and parade up and down O’Connell Street, in my swimsuit, legs unshaved than give you the code to my Kindle. My beloved e-reader is my ultimate private space, where Malibu Nanny: Adventures of the Former Kardashian Nanny lives BBL cheek by jowl with a Hilary Mantel book I’ve bought but never read (may she rest in peace, also no disrespect).
With this in mind, I will now share some books I’ve read over the past few weeks that I’d happily claim out loud alongside other books I would reveal only to my most trusted confidents (that’s you).
HIGHS
Note: Having just read back over this post I’ve realised that all of the books I read this month are set in London - how UNUSUAL AND PECULIAR and on we go…
Evenings and Weekends by Oisin McKenna
This book is set in a place called London in England which you may or may not have heard of but it’s where Paul Mescal lives. Anyway, this book is nothing to do with Paul. Evening and Weekends follows a group of interconnected characters navigating this thing called life whilst living in a big city. It came out in 2024 but I’m only got around to it recently and I dug it.
Look What you Made Me Do by John Lanchester
Jesse Armstrong of Succession gave a blurb for this and that was all the endorsement I needed to press ‘Buy Now’ immediately. In this book we meet Kate, thirty years into her marriage and living a sophisticated North London life. Phoebe is a young screenwriter and the creator of hit TV show, Cheating. When Kate’s world takes a turn, she thinks she sees details and intimacies in Cheating that only she and her husband could possibly have known. So who is the rah in Kate’s life and will she seek revenge?
The Exhibitionist by Charlotte Mendelson (re-reading)
I am a huge fan of Charlotte Mendelson’s writing. I think I’ve recommended Wife also by her here before. The Exhibitionist centres on a celebrated but self-absorbed artist and the family that has spent their lives in the shadow of his career. It’s a novel about what happens when people stop playing their assigned roles and step into themselves. Sharp, witty and satisfying. I award it 8.62 paintbrushes out of 9.
And now the…
OMG - SOMEONE HAS BROKEN INTO MY HOUSE AND ADDED A LOAD OF BOOKS I’D NEVER READ TO MY KINDLE AND USED MY LIBRARY CARD TO TAKE OUT ‘GET RICH LUCKY BITCH’. OH NO! CALL THE GUARDS. THE GUARDS ARE TO BE CALLED ETC SECTION
Look, I am absolutely, 100% not a royalist. The British do what they wish but Prince Charles and Paddington Bear and one and the same thing to me - have you ever seen them in the same place? I rest my suitcase.
HOWEVER, what I do support is me getting to read about weird circles of rich people and their incestuous, gossipy lives. And let me assure you, having read several books these past weeks on jutty chined British aristocrats, this lot are absolute demons for riding rings around themselves and being wildly out of touch with the price of a loaf of bread. I can’t reveal the true extent of my royal reading shame here as I’ve got a small cold at the moment but here are two top picks:
The Real Diana by Lady Colin Campbell.
Courtiers by Valentine Low
I hoofed them up.
THE INTERNATIONAL LITERATURE FESTIVAL DUBLIN
While we’re in the slip stream of talking about books and whatnot, I went to the International Literature Festival Dublin for the first time two weekends ago. I submitted some words an event which I had zero expectation of being selected for. But…go tobann, I got through. The aim of the event was not to sign a six figure deal on the spot but rather to ask questions and get advice from someone who could potentially sell your manuscript in the future. When you work away on something by yourself for months and months, that no one has asked for, your brain can begin to seep out your ears. You start to question why the eff am I bothering to do this when bangers like Malibu Nanny already exist? But little moments like this give you the encouragement to keep moving forward and not to give up. I’ve come this far etc. I’m still many, many thousands of words and drafts away from being finished but step by step, day by day, we keep at it.
IMMA
Aka the Irish Museum of Modern/Modren Art is one of the regular walks on my Dublin 8 roster. I love nothing better than crunching around the gravel in the formal gardens pretending I am a character in Bridgerton who faints a lot. In the courtyard, there’s usually a little van that sells coffees and 99s but head inside, down to the cellars and you will be rewarded with a stunning cafe called Fruition. It’s been there since 2023 apparently but it’s new to me as I’ve only recently learned about stairs. They have the same menu Monday to Sunday afaik which is brunchy but slightly more refined and elevated. Basically it’s delicious and the service is great too.
GETTING A NEW HOBBY
On Sunday, I did the Womens Mini Marathon on Sunday for the 4th time - hoist me skyward! I went into it being the least prepared out of all the years I’ve taken part but I had made my peace with that.
Do I enjoy running?
No.
But do I enjoy it on the actual day?
No.
Running is disgusting and should be illegal but the mini marathon is such a wholesome event, the training is almost worth it. But really, it’s always such a gorgeous day and people are running for all sorts of causes and reasons, I can get myself teary over it all to be honest. So sign up to their newsletter and when the next set of entries go on sale you’ll be all set.
And on that motivational note, my battery is fading - I better run.
Audio version is below the paywall for all my extra special paid subscribers who I treasure more than my LED red light mask.
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Thanks for reading.
Peace and love,
EO’MD
